Building Impact Capacity

This week I did something new.

I asked Claude to forecast my workload after I entered in all the things from my calendar and everything that wasn’t. It included my coaching practice, presentations, faculty development, travel, writing, a new time-limited leadership role I'll share more about soon, moving from Alaska, a remote build, and intentionally making time for family and friends.

The good news? From now through the end of July, my forecast was green.

Beginning in August? Claude marked Red…for months.

It was oddly clarifying.

It reminded me that the work I need to do now, while in the green, is, well, the work before the work to be able to do the work.

I doubled down on getting out of spam purgatory to unload all the marking as junk work. I’ve been streamlining workflows, handing recurring tasks to my VA, selling, donating, and organizing things before we list the house and before the movers arrive. I have been having conversations with family about what the next couple of years may look like setting expectations. I’ve resigned from some positions and roles that, while amazing, weren’t the most important things (MIT)

I’m not just trying to get organized. I am attempting to build what I'm calling Impact Capacity - the time, attention, energy intentionally made available for the work and people that matter most in a given season of life.

I think there are two ways to build Impact Capacity.

The first is Demand Pruning: intentionally reducing the commitments, possessions, complexity, and recurring decisions that quietly consume our capacity without adding proportional value. (I’ve mocked up an infographic - let me know what’s missing or what resonates) The second is Capacity Preloading: making important decisions, building systems, and setting expectations before demand arrives.

This is what I mean about the work before the work, while we are in the green, or yellow.

The work our future selves will thank us for.

Some of you know I'll be stepping into a new leadership role later this summer. I'll share more about that when the timing is right.

What might seem odd is that I'm already spending time in meetings for a job I haven't officially started.

I've sat in on interviews for a key position that will work alongside me. I've been part of conversations about design decisions, strategic planning, and I have one coming up on financial modeling.

Why?

Because the work already had momentum before I signed on. Some decisions were going to get made before my official start date that will directly shape my ability to do the work well once I step in.

It reminded me of the recent lesson my husband and I just experienced in our remote build. There was an assumption gap between builders in one state and we as owners in another. Ours involved a garage floor drain - I mean, that’s like standard right to put a drain in a garage or shop?

Apparently not.

And no one realized the assumption gap before the concrete was poured. The complexities and expense of cutting into concrete and running plumbing is just too much at this point. So, we don't have a drain, and we're not getting one…

My point is - It pays to be at the decision table before the concrete is poured, while the forecast is green.

That’s why it’s worth doing the work before the work.

Reflection:

What is one piece of work before the work that your future self would thank you for doing now?

If you're in the yellow with the concrete still wet, what decision, conversation, system, or boundary is easier to shape today than it will be six months from now?

If you're already in the red, what has become part of the foundation you'll simply work around? And what is important enough that it's still worth cutting into the concrete?